This guide is constructed from personal experience getting RE5 to run on Gentoo Linux x86_64. Other distros may require fewer or different steps, but the general flow will be the same.

In Steam client beta, configure RE5 to install with Proton >=4.2

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=773388188
Launch and force quit game


https://github.com/Matoking/protontricks

WMP11_64: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-media-player-details.aspx





Ctrl+C



Ctrl+C



...

Profit!

Installation on Linux is fairly straightforward with the beta Steam client. The process is the same for most Windows titles. From the "GAMES" section of the Steam library (it will not appear under "STEAMOS + LINUX" until it has been installed), perform the following steps:

1. Right-click on "Resident Evil 5 / Biohazard 5" and select "Properties"
   
2. At the bottom of the window, click next to "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" and select a version of Proton greater than 4.2-0 from the dropdown
   
3. Click the "CLOSE" button, then click the "INSTALL" button on the game's library page

Before running the game for the first time, some prep work is required to get around "Games for Windows Live" requirements. One effective solution is to patch out the need to run GFWL at all by following this guide:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=773388188
Once GFWL no longer gates access to the game, launch it. Steam will install a few required Windows runtimes before launching the game. In the game window, a Capcom logo should appear, followed by a Dolby Digital logo, followed by a black screen, at which point the game will hang. At any time, press Alt+F4 (by default) to close out the game. It is now time to fix the issue that causes the hang.

The game hangs because it tries to run a short video using "Windows Media Player" before loading the main menu. The necessary version, WMP11, is not part of the Wine base system, so it must installed manually. Protontricks can aid with this installation


Protontricks requires Wine and Winetricks to run, since it is a simple wrapper around the latter. It runs on Python, which is usually installed on Gentoo systems. It also requires winbind to perform some installations. On Gentoo, this means installing net-fs/samba with the winbind USE flag set:



Protontricks is not in Portage and the packages for other distros are not officially supported. Use pip or pipx to install it according to the following instructions:

https://github.com/Matoking/protontricks


Proton uses a separate WINEPREFIX for every title. Protontricks sets this prefix based on the APPID you pass it. To set an APPID environment variable for RE5, after performing the "First Run" steps above, execute the following command in a new terminal:


Future commands should be executed in the same terminal and will refer to this APPID.

WMP11 has very strict installation requirements. The Windows version must be set appropriately and a reboot (wineboot) is required after some installation steps. It is also necessary to use the installer package for the correct architecture.


There is a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version of WMP11. The architecture of the WINEPREFIX determines which version is required. To determine the architecture, execute the following command:


If it returns the following:


then the prefix is 64-bit. Otherwise, it is 32-bit. Once the correct architecture has been determined, download the appropriate version from the following link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-media-player-details.aspx

UPDATE 2020-07-29: Microsoft have made it more difficult to obtain components for Windows XP. The above link is no longer valid. For the x86 installer, try the following link:

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=media%20player%2011

Download "Windows Media Player 11" which provides a dynamic installer. I have not tried this method and I do not know if the dynamic installer will be able to obtain the actual components that it needs to install.


It is not necessary to install the full WMP11 program. So, to extract the needed components, first install the cabextract utility:


Then, execute the following command:



WMP11 will only install under Windows XP/2003, even though RE5 runs under Widows 7, so it is necessary to switch between the two versions during installation. The installation will hang after each component, so it is necessary to interrupt the process once output stops. It is also necessary to complete installation by "rebooting" the prefix after each component. First, set the Windows version to XP:


Next, install the codecs:


Ctrl+C


Next, install WMP11:


Ctrl+C


Finally, revert to Windows 7:



Now, launch RE5 from Steam. Performance should be comparable to that on native Windows.


If anything goes wrong during WINEPREFIX setup, issue the following command:


Then, run and exit the game again and go back through the "Installing WMP11 Components" subsection.

Due to some strong dependencies on optional Windows components, Resident Evil 5 requires unusually complex steps to run under Steam Play. But, for fans of the game who have moved on to Linux, the extra effort is worthwhile.

• https://www.protondb.com/app/21690
  
• https://askubuntu.com/questions/652424/windows-media-player-11-12-with-wine